Ditching and leveling machine



of these operations, the inclinations of the shoulder may be varied by tilting the beam 12 through suitable operation of the hand wheel 50. During operation of the scraper device, the motor truck will be shifted slowly along the pavement, so that the preparation of the shoulder will be performed continuously and progressively along the pavement. \Vhen .the scraper device reaches an intersection with another pavement, or. a bridge, it may be tilted upwardly above the level of the pavement by suitable operation of the hand wheel 50, and then lowered again after the intersecting street .or bridge has been passed. This elevated position is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

ln order to set the machine for excavating ditches at the sides or edges of the shoulders, the endless belt or chain 26 may be shortened, such as by removing some of its links, and connected directly between the sprocket wheels 16 and 17 without passing around the roller 25. The endless belt or chain will then pass over, that is above, the roller 25 and be unaffected thereby, as shown in Fig. 3. The auxiliary beam 21 may be swung into inactive position, as shown in Fig. 3, and held in that position by a tie rod 62 which connects it to the beam 12. The beam 12 may be tilted to a greater inclination, as shown in Fig. 3, and operated to excavate the ditch along the outer edge of the shoulder. During this operation, the endless belt or chain may be operated in adirection to carry the buckets upwardly along its upper stretch, so

that the excavated material collected by the buckets will be carried up and over the incline and discharged into a waiting truck or vehicle as the buckets pass over the sprocket wheel 17. During this movement, the motor truck supporting the machine travels along the pavement slowly and thus the excavating of the ditch is continuous and progressive.

lit the pavement is built on an elevation above the shoulders, it may, in some cases, be desirable first to provide ditches at the edges of the shoulders while operating the machine in a direction to carry the buckets upwardly along the lower stretch so as to rake the excavated soil from the ditch upon the shoulders. The machine may be subsequently 0pcrated along the pavement to level out such deposited soil upon the shoulders.

lit will be obvious that various changes in details, which have been herein described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of the invention, may be made by those skilled in the art within the principle and. scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention 1. A road construction machine comprising a movable support, a frame mounted on said support to extend transversely and to one side thereof, and also oscillatable in an approximately vertical plane thereon, an endless conveyor having scrapers mounted on and shiftable with said frame and presenting approximately horizontal scraping edges, whereby the lower stretch of said conveyor may be ad- 'justed to any desired inclination to the roadway over which the support may be moved, and means for driving the conveyor in either direction independently of the movement of said support so as to rake soil from the sides of the road toward the center and level it, or rake off the soil from the roadway toward the sides, depending upon the direction of travel of the conveyor.

, 2. A road construction machine comprising a support, a member mounted on said support to extend transversely of and to one side thereof, and also oscillatable vertically thereon, an endless belt having scrapers upon its outer face extending in a direction lengthwise of said member, guides on said member for supporting said belt in approximately the formof an obtuse triangle while permitting travel of the belt, and means for driving the belt in either direction, whereby when the belt is driven in one direction its lower stretch will rake soil toward the support and when driven in the other direction, the scrapers on its lower stretch will rake the soil in a direction away from the support.

3. A road construction machine comprising a support, a member mounted on said support to extend transversely of and to one side thereof, and also oscillatable vertically thereon, an endless belt having scrapers upon its outer face extending in a direction lengthwise of said member, guides on said member for supporting said belt in approximately the form of an obtuse triangle while permitting travel of the belt, and means for driving the belt in either direction, whereby when the belt is driven in one direction its lower stretch will rake soil toward the support and when driven in the other direction, the scrapers on its lower stretch will rake the soil in a direction away from the support, the scrapers be ing in the form of buckets openingin the direction of travel of the lower stretch when carrying the soil in a direction away from the support, whereby the soil collected by the bucket scrapers will be carried along the up per oblique stretch and discharged at the other end of said member at an elevated point.

4. A road construction machine comprising a support, a member mounted on said support for vertical oscillation, belt guides at spaced points along the length of said member, an endless belt extending between and supported by said guides, and a third belt guide on said member below a line connecting said other guides for producing an angular change in the direction of the lower stretch of said belt, whereb said endless belt will have theform of an obtuse triangle, said belt being optionally connectable directly between said first March 26, 1929. J LEYDECKER I 1,707,062

DITCHING AND LEVELING MACHINE Filed June 29. 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Mmh 26,1929. F J, LEYDEC'KER 1,707,062

DITCHING AND LEVELING MACHINE Filed June 29, 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 A 7'70/PA EK6.

Patented Mar. 26, 1929.

Parser! OFFICE.

FREDERICK J. LEYDECKER, OF MABENGO, ILLINOIS.

DITCHING AND IJEVELIN G MACHINE.

Application filed June 29, 1926. Serial No. 119,434.

This invention relates to road construction machines and particularly to the type employed for gradin the shoulders of a roadway, and for providing the ditches at the edges of the shoulders for drainage purposes.

An object of the invention is to generally improve and simplify road construction, grading and ditching machines.

A further object is to provide an improved machine of this type which may be adjusted selectively to grade roadwa shoulders to different inclinations or gra es, or to provide drainage ditches of different depths at the edges of the shoulders; which may be shifted along the roadwa while in operation so as to continuously an progressively grade the shoulders or ditch the edges; which will elevate surplus soil for loading purposes; and which will be relatively simple, rigid, durable and inexpensive.

A further object is to provide an improved shoulder grading and ditching device which may be mounted upon a vehicle and shifted thereby along the roadway while in operation.

Various other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description of an embodiment of the invention, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out hereinafter in connection with the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is an end elevation of a road grading and ditching machine constructed in accordance with this invention and mounted upon the rear end of a motor truck, the machine being set for grading shoulders;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of a portion of the device as set for ditching;

Fig. 4: is a sectional elevation of a portion of the same, with the section taken approximately along the line 4-4:, of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an elevation, partly in section, of certain details for tilting the scraper supporting beam.

lfn the illustrated embodiment of the invention, a suitable frame 10 serves as a base or support for the movable parts of the machine, and may be of a size and shapeto rest upon or be attached to a suitable vehicle, such as a motor truck 11. A beam 12 is mounted for oscillation at a point intermediate of its ends upon a shaft 13 carried by the rear end of the frame 10, which preferably should be at the rear end of the vehicle. The shaft 13 extends approximately horizontally, so that the beam 12 will oscillate vertically. A shaft 14 is rotatably mounted between sections of the beam 12, and carries thereona pair of sprocket wheels 15 and 16 '(see Fig. 4). A sprocket wheel 17 is mounted upon a shaft '18 at the other end of the beam 12, and the shaft 18 is, in turn, mounted in bearin blocks 19 which may be adjusted alon the beam in any suitable manner, such as y adjustin screws 20. Thus the sprocket wheel'17 may e adjusted toward and from the sprocket wheels 15 and 16 to a limited extent, for purposes which will appear shortly.

An auxiliary beam 21 is provided witha plurality of apertures 22, see Figs. 1 and 3, by any one of which apertures it may be mounted upon a pin, bolt or screw 23 extending from a face of the beam 12. The auxiliary beam may beheld in a position approximately normal to the beam 12 by a suitable tie rod 24, which connects it to the frame or support 10. A suitable guide, such as a roller 25, is provided at the free end of the auxiliary beam 21. An endless chain or belt 26 extends over the sprocket wheels 16 and 17 at opposite ends of the beam 12, and also around the roller 25 when the machine is set for grading shoulders, as shown in Fig. 1. By adjusting the sprocket wheel 17 along the beam 12, the ti 'htness of the endless belt or chain 26 may be varied.

The roller 25 and the sprocket Wheels 16 and 17 correspond to the apexes of an obtuse trian-' gle, with one of the shorter sides of the triangle serving as its base and extending along the surfaces of the roadway, as shown in Fig. 1.

A gear or pinion 27 is provided upon the shaft 13 upon which the beam 12 is tiltable, and a driving chain 28 connects the pinion or gear 27 with the sprocket wheel 15. The'shaft 13, when rotated, will drive the sprocket wheel 15, and through the shaft 14 will drive the sprocket wheel 16- which is connected to and drives the endless chain or belt 26. Thus the endless belt or chain may be driven in either direction by the shaft 13. A second sprocket wheel or gear wheel 29 is mounted upon the shaft 13 to drive the same, and is connected by a chain 30 to a sprocket wheel 7 upon a power shaft 32 (see Fig. 2). The power shaft 32 is connected through a suitable selectivo speed and reversing device or transmission 33, and a clutch 34, to a suitable source of power, such as an engine 35.

31 provided 5 The clutch may be rendered operative or inhandwheel as a means of finer adjustment.

operative in the usual manner, by a controlling handle 36, and the speed ratio between the engine and the power shaft 32 and direction of rotation of the latter may be varied by suitable operation of a control handle 37. Inasmuch as such clutches and variable speed and direction reversing transmission devices are old and well known in automobiles, tractors and motor trucks, the details of their construction are omitted from this description in the interest of clarity. The outer face of the endless chain or belt 26 is provided with spaced scraper members 38, which are preferably in the form of scraper buckets having their open faces extending away from the vehicle when in the lower or base stretch.

A third beam 39 is rigidly connected at its base to the rear end of the support or frame 10, so as to extend upwardly over one of the arms of the beam 12, as shown in Fig. 1. A tie rod 40 connects a section of the beam 39 distant from its base, to any suitable but forward part of the vehicle (see Figs. 1 and 2), and another tie rod 40 connects the upper end of the beam 39 to the base or frame 10 in approximately the plane of the beam. A shaft 41 (see Fig. 5) is rotatably mounted in a housing 42 at the free end of the rigid beam 39. and within the housing carries a worm wheel 43 which meshes with a worm screw 44 upon one end of a shaft 45. The shaft 45 is rotatably mounted in the housing 42, and extends to the vehicle where it enters another housing 46 carried by a standard 47 of the frame or support 10. lVithin the hous ing 46, the shaft 45 carries a worm Wheel 48 which meshes with and is driven by a worm screw 49. The worm screw 49 is rotatably supported in the housing 46 and'is driven by a hand wheel 50. Thus, by rotation of the hand wheel 50, the shaft 41 may be rotated in either direction.

The shaft 41 extends exteriorly of the housing 42 and carries a crank arm 51 at its free end with a pivot pin 52. The pin'52 may be connected to a link 53 through anyof a plurality of apertures 04 in the link, so that the effective length of the link may be varied by shifting the pin 52 into any one of the apertures 54. The link depends from the crank arm, and is formed at its lower end for embracing the beam 12 and the upper stretch of the endless belt or chain 26, as

shown particularly in Fig. 2. The arms of.

the depending end of the link 53 are pivotally connected by pins 55 to the beam 12, so that by operation of the hand wheel 50, the beam 12 may be tilted vertically.

Inasmuch as the range of tilting by the operation of the hand wheel is rather limited, the range of adjustment of the beam 12 is increased by the variable connection between the crank arm 51 and the link 53, the latter serving for approximate adjustment, and the To hold the beam 12 against lateral movement while in any position, or while being adjusted, it may be connected by a tie rod 56 to an angular member 57 which is pivoted at 58 to a suitable point on the vehicle. Inasmuch as the radius between the pivot 58 and the connection between the tie rod and the beam 12 will vary with the tilting of the beam 12, the tie rod 56 preferably includes therein an adjustable section, such as a turn buckle 59 (Fig. 2), by which its effective length may be varied, as required.

In order to support the upper stretch of the endless belt or chain 26 against excessive sagging, any desired number of guide rollers 60 may be provided on the beam 12 beneath the upper stretch of the endless chain or belt.

The end edges of the buckets or scraper members 38 are preferably sharpened somewhat so as to cut their way through the soil of shoulders which may be encountered as the truck carrying the device moves slowly along the pavement, but preferably the shaft 14 is provided with a plurality of blades 61, see Fig. 4, adjacent the forward face of the sprocket wheel 16 for loosening the soil of any shoulders which may be encountered by the wheel as the grading device is moved forwardly. The soil loosened by the blades 61 will drop downwardly and be collected and carried away by the scraper members or buckets 38.

l/Vhen the machine is assembled, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, it is set for grading shoulders at the side of a roadway, and the operation for that purpose will now be described. If the surface of the shoulder along the side of the pavement is higher than the pavement, the endless chain or belt 26 will be operated in a direction to carry the lower stretch between the roller 25 and the sprocket wheel 16 away from the vehicle and thus cut into the soil of the shoulder and carry it further from the track of the vehicle. If the cut is at all deep, so that the soil scraped away from the pavement piles up considerably at the outer end of the beam 12, the buckets will collect the surplus, carry it up the inclined upper stretch, and then discharge it as the buckets pass over the upper sprocket wheel 17. At this time another truck or vehicle may be disposed under the sprocket wheel 17 for receiving the discharged soil that may then be carted away.

If, however, the surface of the shoulders at the side of the pavement is lower than the pavement surface, the endless belt or chain 26 may be operated in a reverse direction, that is, to move the lower stretch toward the vehicle. During this movement of the chainof these operations, the inclinations of the shoulder may be varied by tilting the beam 12 through suitable operation of the hand wheel 50. During operation of the scraper device, the motor truck will be shifted slowly along the pavement, so that the preparation of the shoulder will be performed continuously and progressively along the pavement. \Vhen the scraper device reaches an intersection with another pavement, or. a bridge, it may be tilted upwardly above the level of the pavement by suitable operation of the hand wheel 50, and then lowered again after the intersecting street .or bridge has been passed. This elevated position is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

lln order to set the machine for excavating ditches at the sides or edges of the shoulders, the endless belt or chain 26 may be shortened, such as by removing some of its links, and connected directly between the sprocket wheels 16 and 17 without passing around the roller 25. The endless belt or chain will then pass over, that is above, the roller 25 and be unaffected thereby, as shown in Fig. 3. The auxiliary beam 21 may be swung into inactive position, as shown in Fig. 3, and held in that position by a tie rod 62 which connects it to the beam 12. The beam 12 may be tilted to a greater inclination, as shown in Fig. 3, and operated to excavate the ditch along the outer edge of the shoulder. During this operation, the endless belt or chain may be operated in a direction to carry the buckets upwardly along its upper stretch, so

that the excavated material collected by the buckets will be carried up and over the incline and discharged into a waiting truck or vehicle as the buckets pass over the sprocket wheel 17. During this movement, the motor truck supporting the machine travels along the pavement slowly and thus the excavating of the ditch is continuous and progressive.

If the pavement is built on an elevation above the shoulders, it may, in some cases, be desirable first to provide ditches at the edges of the shoulders while operating the machine in a direction to carry the buckets upwardly along the lower stretch so as to rake the excavated soil from the'ditch upon the shoulders. The machine may be subsequently operated along the pavement to level out such deposited soil upon the shoulders.

it will be obvious that various changes in details, which have been herein described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of the invention, may be made by those skilled in the art within the principle and. scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

ll claim as my invention I 1. A road construction machine comprising a movable support, a frame mounted on said support to extend transversely and to one side thereof, and also oscillatable in an approximately vertical plane thereon, an endless conveyor having scrapers mounted on and shiftable with said frame and presenting approximately horizontal scraping edges, whereby the lower stretch of said conveyor may be ad- 'justed to any desired inclination to the roadway over w lich the support may be moved, and means for driving the conveyor in either direction independently of the movement of said support so as to rake soil from the sides of the road ,toward the center and level it, or rake off the soil from the roadway toward the sides, depending upon the direction of travel of the conveyor.

.2. A road construction machine comprising a support, a member mounted on said support to extend transversely of and to one side thereof, and also oscillatable vertically thereon, an endless belt having scrapers upon its outer face extending in a direction lengthwise of said member, guides on said member for supporting said belt in approximately the form of an obtuse triangle while permitting travel of the belt, and means for driving the belt in either direction, whereby when the belt is driven in one direction its lower stretch will rake soil toward the support and when driven in the other direction, the scrapers on its lower stretch will rake the soil in a direction away from the support.

3. A road construction machine comprising a support, a member mounted on said support to extend transversely of and to one side thereof, and also oscillatable vertically thereon, an endless belt having scrapers upon its outer face extending in a direction lengthwise of said member, guides on said member for supporting said belt in approximately the form of an obtuse triangle while permitting travel of the belt, and means for driving the belt in either direction, whereby when the belt is driven in one direction its lower stretch will rake soil toward the support and when driven in the other direction, the scrapers on its lower stretch will rake the soil in a direction away from the support, the scrapers being in the form of buckets openingin the direction of travel of the lower stretch when carrying the soil in a direction away from the support, whereby the soil collected by the bucket scrapers will be carried along the up per oblique stretch and discharged at the other end of said member at an elevated point.

4:. A road construction machine comprising a support, a member mounted on said support for vertical oscillation, belt guides at spaced points along the length of said member, an endless belt extending between and supported by said guides, and a third belt guide on said member below a line connecting said other guides for producing an angular change in the direction of the lower stretch of said belt, whereb said endless belt will have the form of an obtuse triangle, said belt being optionally connectable directly between said first guides independently of said third guide, scraper buckets carried on the outer face of said belt, and means for operating said end less belt in either direction selectively.

5. A road construction machine, comprising a vehicle, a member mounted upon an end of the vehicle and oscillatable in a transverse, approximately vertical plane, an endless scraper and conveyor carried by said member for travel in a direction transversely of the vehicle, means carried by the vehicle for driving said conveyor, and a conveyor guide on said member for causing an obtuse angular change in direction of travel of the lower stretch of the conveyor, whereby when the machine is to be used to level shoulders, said conveyor guide may be used to conduct a section of the lower stretch of the conveyor at small inclinations to the horithe conveyor may be caused to travel independently of the guide at greater inclinations to the horizontal.

6. A road construction machine, comprising a vehicle, a member-mounted upon an end of the vehicle and oscillatable in a transverse, approximately vertical plane, an endless scraper and conveyor carried by said member for travel in a direction transversely of the vehicle, means carried by the vehicle for driving said conveyor, a conveyor guide on said member for causing an obtuse angular change in direction of travel of the lower stretch of the conveyor, whereby when the machine is to be used to level shoulders, said conveyor guide may be used to conduct a section of the lower stretch of the conveyor at small inclinations to the horizontal, and when ditches are to be excavated the conveyor may be caused to travel independently of the guide at greater inclinations to the horizontal, and means carried by the vehicle for adjustably tilting said member into different angular positions whereby the conveyor and member may be elevated to clear bridges, culverts and road intersections.

7. A road construction machine, comprising a vehicle, an elongated frame oscillatably mounted upon one end of said vehicle and extending from one side of said vehicle,.an end- 'lcss conveyor and scraper carried by said frame and movable endwise thereon, the lower run of said conveyor and scraper havin g a stretch extending from the surface upon which the vehicle travels at a point adjacent one wheel, outwardly away from that side of the vehicle at an inclination depending upon the angular position of said frame, and means carried by the vehicle for driving said conveyor and scraper selectively in either direction independently of the travel of said vehicle.

8. A road construction machine, comprising a vehicle, an elongated frame oscillatably mounted upon one end of said vehicle and extending from one side of said vehicle, an endless conveyor and scraper carried by said frame and movable endwise thereon, the lower run of said conveyor and scraper having a stretch extending from the surface upon which the vehicle travels at a point adjacent one wheel, outwardly away from that side of the vehicle at an inclination depending upon the angular position of said frame, and means carried by the vehicle for driving said conveyor and scraper selectively in either direction independently of the travel of said vehicle, the other stretches of said conveyor and scraper elevating material collected by said first stretch while moving away from said vehicle and discharging it at a height from which it can run by gravity into an adjacent vehicleused to cart such material away.

9. A road construction machine, comprising a vehicle, an elongated frame mounted upon one end of said vehicle for oscillation in a plane transverse to the direction of travel of said vehicle and extending to one side of the vehicle, an endless conveyor, a pair of guides carried by the ends of said frame and between which said conveyor extends for movement endwise of said frame and transversely of the direction of the vehicle travel, means for driving said conveyor in all angular positions of said frame,.for excavating progressively alon the road a ditch at one side of and spaced from said vehicle, said frame having a guide over which the lower stretch of said conveyor may be guided selectively, disposed at a point adjacent the track along which said vehicle travels whereby the lower stretch of said conveyor will grade a shoulder approximately merging vith said track and making diil'erent inclinations therefrom depending upon the angular position of said frame.

10. A road construction machine, comprising a vehicle, an elongated frame mounted upon one end of said vehicle for oscillation in a plane transverse to the direction of travel of said vehicle and extending to one side of the vehicle, an endless conveyor, a'pair of guides carried by the ends of said frame and between which said conveyor extends for movement endwise of said frame and transversely of the direction of vehicle travel, means for driving said conveyor in all angular positions of said frame, for excavating progressively along the road a ditch at one side of and spaced from said vehicle, said frame having a guide over which the lower stretch of said conveyor may be guided selectively, disposed at a point adjacent the track along which said vehicle travels whereby the .lower stretch of said conveyor will grade a shoulder approximately merging with said track and making difi'erent inclinations therefrom depending upon the angular position of said frame, said conveyor driving means being operable to drive said conveyor in either direction selectively.

11. A road construction machine, comprising a vehicle, an elongated frame mounted upon one end of said vehicle for oscillation in a plane transverse to the direction of travel of said vehicle and extending to one side of the vehicle, an endless conveyor, a pair of guides carried by the ends of said frame and between which said conveyor extends for movement endwise of said frame and transversely of the direction of vehicle travel, means for driving said conveyor in all angular positions of said frame, for excavating progressively along the road a ditch at one side of and spaced from said vehicle, said frame having a guide over which the lower conveyor stretch and discharged at the elevated end of said frame.

12. A road construction machine, comprising a vehicle, an elongated frame mounted upon one end of said vehicle for oscillation in a plane transverse to the direction of travel of said vehicle and extending to one side of the vehicle, an endless conveyor, a pair of guides carried by the ends of said frame'and between which said conveyor extends for movement endwise of said frame and transversely of the direction of vehicle travel, means for driving said conveyor in all angular positions of said frame, for excavating progressively along the road a ditch at one side of and spaced from said vehicle, said frame having a guide over which the lower stretch of said conveyor may be guided selectively, disposed at a point adjacent the track along which said vehicle travels whereby the lower stretch of said conveyor will grade a shoulder approximately merging with said track and making different inclinations therefrom depending upon the angular position of said frame, said guide adjacent said track being mounted on said frame for movement into'and out of operative position adj acent said track.

the material collected by the lower stretch of said conveyor will be elevated by the upper FREDERICK J. LEYDECKER. 

